


Studies of Red

by Lilogirl



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Ableism, Autism, Canon Autistic Character, Gen, Ghostbusters References, Panic attack?, Platonic Relationships, but feel free to read into it, red instead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:01:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27583076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilogirl/pseuds/Lilogirl
Summary: In which we see Abed during one of his least favorite days.
Relationships: Troy Barnes & Abed Nadir
Comments: 6
Kudos: 75





	Studies of Red

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody! As someone with high functioning autism, this fic meant a lot to me, and I am excited to see what you all think of it! 
> 
> For those of you who do not know about #redinstead, here is a link with some valuable info to help you understand the story's context: https://www.learnfromautistics.com/wear-redinstead-on-autism-acceptance-day/

There are some days that Abed always looks forward to.

He consistently counts down the days till Christmas, always prepares for Halloween in advance, and never forgets to mark the release date of the latest sci-fi blockbuster on his calendar. 

There are some days Abed hates.

One of them is April 2nd.

When it rolls around in 2011, Abed is grateful that it falls on a Saturday, because it means he doesn’t have to leave his dorm. He knows that if he did, he would see people all across campus wearing blue in order to “show support” for people like him. 

He knows that most of the people wearing blue today don’t _mean_ to hurt, but it doesn’t make the circumstances sting any less. 

As Abed sits on the couch, eating some sugar cereal while watching _Ghostbusters_ , he lets his mind wander. 

He can’t help but think of Britta at this moment. 

He knows she means well, but he would be willing to bet at _least_ a thousand dollars on her wearing a blue jacket today. He can’t help but sigh as he imagines all the fawning he would be the target of today if he ran into her, and how she would look at him with such eager, expecting eyes, waiting for him to cry tears of joy at her clothing choice. 

As he rests on the couch, thoughts of what’s going on all across the country start to drift away. 

He stares at the TV, and his mind turns towards thoughts of ghosts, scientists, and mid 80’s Bill Murry. 

Just as he’s starting to wonder if he prefers Dan Akroyd in this film over his work on Saturday Night Live, he feels his phone vibrate in his front pocket. He flips it open and sees a message.

It’s from Troy. 

Abed smiles. Even though he had decided to stay in today, he had still requested a visit from his friend over text ten or so minutes ago. 

**From Troy Barnes:**

**Sup dude! Sorry for responding a little late, I’ll be there asap! By the way, I have a little surprise for you!**

Abed’s smile subtly withers. He’s never been fond of the unexpected. 

Another text appears on the small screen. 

Abed reads it, and he feels his stomach twist into a knot, compact and painful. He winces, his eyes closing shut, not wanting to see the message.

**From Troy Barnes:**

**Hint: It has something to do with my clothes :)**

Abed bites the corner of his fingernail anxiously. 

He already knows what’s going to happen. 

Troy, the first person he could ever call a best friend, is going to walk into his dorm decked head to toe in blue. He’ll be wearing a blue shirt, blue jeans, and blue sneakers, and Abed will never be able to look at him the same way again. 

He’ll know that Troy thinks he needs to be fixed.

Abed curls up in a small ball. He knows that this is really only a small drop in the deep river of things he’s experienced, but it sure doesen’t feel like it. He can feel his insides filling with a sense of betrayal. All his life, he knew that people wanted to fix him. His mother, his father, his doctors all wanted to cure him. 

He thought that Troy would be different. 

After waiting, curled up, hearing the sounds of the movie wash through his ears for five or so minutes, he hears a loud, sudden knock on the door, and the knot in Abed’s stomach becomes even tighter, because by this point he feels seconds away from a meltdown.

Slowly, he gets up and walks to the door. He swallows, dreading the moment when Troy will ask him what he thinks of his new outfit, and Abed will have to force a smile, tell him that he loves it, and try his best to stifle his feelings of anger, not at Troy, but at himself for being so naive. 

He opens the door, bracing himself for what’s sure to follow. 

He sees his friend, standing there with his usual cheeky and jovial grin.

“Hey, Abed! Sorry again for taking so long to respond to your text, I just got a bit distracted, y’know how it is. Oh, you won’t believe this, while I was on the way here, I saw Mr. Chang, and he was wearing the _craziest_ shirt, I think it said-”

Troy continues talking, but Abed is too busy looking at Troy’s clothing. 

He can’t believe his eyes.

Troy is wearing: 

A _red_ baseball cap.

A _red_ t-shirt.

A _red_ fleece jacket.

A _red_ pair of sneakers. 

There isn’t even a speck of blue to be found on Troy, even his jeans are just plain old grey. 

Abed’s lips part, and he tilts his head. 

“So then I was thinking...Hey, Abed, you alright?” 

Abed moves his head back in its upright position.

“Were you looking at my outfit? I went to Old Navy to get the fleece jacket, it cost a bit more than I was expecting, but hey, it’s a special event, right?” Troy says in the exceedingly welcome yet casual voice Abed is so wonderfully used to. 

Speaking of Abed, he’s currently too shocked to say anything at the moment, and Troy can’t help but take notice.

“Abed, what’s going on? Oh god, please don’t tell me I look stupid in this, I walked past Jeff on my way here, and-” 

Abed shakes his head.

“No, it’s not that, it’s just that when I got your text message, I thought… well...y’know.”

Troy gives a look of confusion for one fleeting second before his eyes widen. 

“Oh buddy, you thought...you thought I was gonna wear blue?” Troy says in a voice that is somehow filled with both tenderness and panic.

Abed bites his bottom lip, embarrassed with himself.

“Maybe.” 

Troy’s bites _his_ bottom lip, probably to stop it from quivering. 

“Abed...I’m so sorry, I should have told you what I was gonna do, I just really wanted to surprise you with this whole red thing, and I promise that I would _never_ -” 

“Troy, it’s ok, it's just that... I’ve never seen someone doing this in person, so when you sent that text I just assumed you were going to be doing what everyone else is doing today.” 

Troy’s bottom lip (and chin) really are quivering now, and his mind is beginning to paint a pretty vivid picture of how Abed was feeling while waiting for him to arrive. 

Abed walks closer to Troy. 

“Please don’t cry. I was thinking you could watch the rest of _Ghostbusters_ with me, and...look, I don’t want you to feel guilty. What you did for me is better then anything I could have hoped for. I was expecting this to be the darkest hour of our friendship, but instead, it was the happiest plot point we’ve had so far.” 

Troy grins. 

“You’ve been reading _a lot_ of screenwriting books lately, haven’t you?”

Abed giggles. 

“Yep, very much so.” 

Troy laughs along, and then reaches into his pocket. 

“Oh man, I almost forgot to give you this!” 

He pulls out a small white envelope, and when he tears it open, Abed can see it holds a small red card. 

Troy hands it over, and Abed opens it up. 

_To Abed,_

_Hope you’re having a great day! You are such a wonderful, smart, fun friend, and we hope you know that you have a beautiful mind! We both love you!_

_From Troy and Annie_

Abed has no idea what to say. 

“You like it? Annie said she’s making a fuzzy red pillow, she’ll probably have it done by tomorrow.” 

Abed rubs the back of his neck.

“Troy...can I hug you?”

“Huh? Sorry, it’s just you’re not really the hugging type.” 

Abed nods. 

“I know. It’s ok” 

Abed wraps his thin arms around Troy’s upper body, and Troy does the same with even more gentleness. 

Abed knows that this one moment won’t put an end to ignorance. 

He knows there are still hundreds of people wearing blue. 

But maybe he doesent have to think about that right now. 

Right now, it’s just him and his silly, emotional, and awesome friend, together.

Right now, that's all he wants.


End file.
